


Revenge of the Twins

by FourFaces



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Angst, Humor, Multi, Revenge, Spoilers for Episode: e060-066 The Stolen Century Parts 1-7, Spoilers for Episode: e067-069 Story and Song Parts 1-3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-16
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-07 16:02:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14674542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FourFaces/pseuds/FourFaces
Summary: Lup learns about Sazed and recruits help in getting revenge after he is released early. Meanwhile, Taako, Angus, and Merle go on a revenge quest for a friend.





	Revenge of the Twins

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short ficlet that I promised myself would be angst free. It's not.

When Lup learned more about Sazed, she saw red once again.

Her brother, her beloved brother, had been hurt by this Wood Elf and she hadn’t been there to stop it.

Now she was here and ready to make up for everything that had happened while she had been trapped in the Umbra Staff. When Sazed was released from jail on good behavior, Lup knew she had her chance at revenge.

~

It was normally Lup and Barry’s weekend with Angus. This had been made painfully clear to Taako many times in the past. Instead, Angus stood, puzzled, at the threshold of Taako’s home. He knocked, waiting for Taako to answer.

The elf sprung to the door and grinned upon seeing his favorite pupil before suddenly looking around with suspicion.

“Wait … Where’s Lup? This is her weekend with you and last time I stole a weekend, she scorched my entire fall wardrobe!”

“She uh … she said that Barry was going to be coming home from his mission and that I probably don’t want to hang around.”

Taako groaned and cradled his face in his hand.

“Yeah … No, you wouldn’t .. Alright, Ango, well … Merle and I had plans but you’re free to tag along. Just uh … this is a special surprise mission for Magnus. He can’t know what we’re doing.”

“A surprise?” Angus gasped.

“Yeah. He uh … he also won’t know it was us … or what happened … Look, kiddo. You’re good at secrets so … We’re going to be paying a visit to a very bad man this weekend. One who totally has this coming to him. So, if you’re in ...”

“Oh! We’re arresting someone?” Angus chirped.

“Sure …” Taako lied. “We’re totally arresting this guy. That’s what Maggie wanted us to do.”

“Oh boy! Well, I’ll need to make sure I have my new wand with us! Good thing I brought it! I was hoping Lup would teach me some evocation magic but this is even better!”

“Ha ha, that’s great kiddo. Just don’t ever let her hear you say that.”

“Ok!”

Taako ushered Angus into the house before rushing back to the kitchen to prepare some extra food for his new travelling companion. He knew that Merle would be pissed, but at this point he didn’t care.

These journeys always felt better with three people.

~

Magnus wasn’t sure why Lup needed the gunny sack, but a distraction from his work was definitely needed after the week he’d had. He had been working on a new chair for the next week’s class when his Stone of Farspeech had buzzed, Lup only saying two words to him.

“It’s time.”

Now the pair was sneaking through the woods near the remains of Old Phandolin. The town had been memorialized, but a smaller settlement had sprung up nearby. Some called it a crude tourist trap, but others felt it was a place to pay homage to the lives lost there.

This was where Sazed had been last seen, according to Lup’s sources.

“Alright, so we’re going up against a Wood Elf who, according to Taako, was worse than Wankins when it came to spell slots. We should be ok grabbing him,”

“Wait … Grabbing him?”

“Oh, yeah. So, we’re kidnapping the man responsible for the loss of Taako’s cooking show. The one thing that had kept him going before he became an adventurer.”

“But … wasn’t he just released on good behavior?”

“Yeah, and that was a mistake,” Lup hissed. “So, we’re going to fix that and do what the government was too chicken to do.”

“Oh … geez .. Lup, this isn’t right.”

Lup gently grabbed Magnus’ hand.

“Maggie. I was in an umbrella for twelve years. I was gone and couldn’t help my brother when he needed me the most. I need to make up for that. Sure, I destroyed Edward but … I wasn’t even able to help him when Sazed ruined his career. This is the least I can do.”

Magnus sighed. He really didn’t want to do this but he understood Lup’s guilt. She had been different since being freed from her staff. She had held onto Barry tighter and had clung to Taako more. She had been more open than she ever had been. Some nights, when he would stay with Barry and Lup, Magnus could hear her scream Taako’s name in her sleep. The next morning, when she would have these nightmares, she would be silent and distant with Barry rubbing circles into her back.

Magnus often wondered if a night had passed without nightmares for her. He often remembered having them as well. An entire town, reduced to ash. His wife, dead in his arms, though he wasn’t sure why. Something blocked his memory. Something that not even the Voidfish Ichor had been able to restore.

“Ok, Lup,” Magnus sighed. “So, are we just going to rush in or should I sneak up on him?”

“I think stealth would be best,” Lup began. “We elves have amazing hearing and I don’t want him running. What we’re doing isn’t necessarily legal …”

“I gathered that,” Magnus grumbled. “So, sneak up on him, and then what?”

“Then I’m taking him home where he’ll pay for what he’s done.”

“Oh … Um … Isn’t Barry going to be home soon?”

“He’ll understand.”

“Ok,” Magnus agreed hurriedly.

“Ready?”

Magnus nodded and the two creeped through the foliage and towards the tavern on the outskirts of the settlement. Lup grinned, seeing her target step outside, broom in his hand.

“Of course he wouldn’t be allowed to work with the food. This is our chance … No one will miss this asshole. I’ll create a diversion and then you can grab him.”

“Wait, I thought -”

“I just realized that this will work even better,” she said, hurriedly braiding her hair. “Sazed hasn’t seen Taako since Wonderland.”

Magnus wanted to stop her, but Lup was too fast. She darted out of the bushes and stood in plain sight where Sazed would be able to see her.

He looked up and froze.

“T-Taako?” He gasped. “Oh my god … I …”

Magnus struck, grabbing the Wood Elf before he could scream and stuffing him into the gunny sack. As the pair stole away into the woods, Lup grinned.

Sazed was going to wish she was Taako.

~

“Absolutely not!” Merle growled. “We are not taking him with us!”

“Come on,” Taako pleaded. “He’s not going to say anything and it would be good to have another wizard along with us. Especially since Lup is going to be … preoccupied.”

“I promise, sir. I won’t tell anyone! You know I’m great at keeping secrets and I’ll even be able to help you find him and apprehend him! I am the world’s greatest detective after all!”

Merle groaned.

“Fine. Fine. But if you tell anyone …”

“I won’t!”

“So, Taako, I guess we better get started,” the dwarf sighed, hoisting his hammer over his shoulder.

“Yup. With the intel I got, we should finish with this by the time Ango has to go back for classes. Shouldn’t take more than a day.”

The trio set off towards Glamor Springs, where Taako had last heard the disgraced former governor had been hiding. He secretly had hoped that Lup would be able to join him, but he understood that she needed time with Barry. Any time her lover had to go on a mission without her, she would be a nervous wreck until he was home. It was as if she thought she would never see him again.

According to Barry, she was even worse regarding her twin.

He was honestly surprised she was so understanding about the twelve years where she had been forgotten. He felt guilty. He could have found her. He had been so close and yet …

“Sirs?” Angus whispered. “Um … What does the guy we’re looking for look like?”

“Oh, um … big, evil … old … Magnus didn’t give us a lot of description but my source said he had scraggly grey hair now. Real hermit looking type.” Taako started. “Why?”

“Well, I think we found our guy then,” Angus began, pointing into the woods.

Taako and Merle froze when they saw their quarry. The old man was hunched over something in the distance, but this had to be him. When he turned around, Taako felt a chill run up his spine. He had often fantasized about killing the man who had hurt his one of his closest friends, but seeing him in person sent new feelings of rage throughout his body. Upon closer inspection, he realized that this man was indeed the former governor of Raven’s Roost. The one who had destroyed the town after being cast out.

The one responsible for the nightmares Magnus had once had.

Yes, this was him.

“Kalen,” Taako hissed.

“Sir! Excuse me sir!” Angus shouted. “You are under arrest for … Uh … What was it again?”

Taako froze as the man started towards them. He hadn’t expected this. He hadn’t thought about those days when he was hiding from bounty hunters since the truth had been revealed to him.

“I cast … Zone of Truth!” Merle shouted.

“Why, sir?” Angus asked. “Don’t we need to arrest him?”

“We need to make sure he’s the right person, Ango,” Merle said. “We can’t just go kill-er arresting people willy nilly.”

Angus nodded.

“Wait, kill?”

“Are you Kalen?” Merle boomed.

“Yes.”

“Ahh. So you are the one Magnus ordered us to kill.”

“Magnus … Magnus Burnsides?”

“Yes! Do you know why we’re here?”

“That bastard overthrew me in Raven’s Roost. I blew up the Craftsman’s Corridor. Killed his father in law and his wife-”

Taako aimed his wand at Kalen, his eyes filled with rage as he cast Magic Missile at the man. Merle and Angus watched, mouths agape, as the spell struck Kalen dead in the chest. The man rocketed backwards into the bushes.

“Jesus, Taako!” Merle shouted.

“Oh my gosh! Sir, why did you do that? I thought we were arresting him.”

Taako simply stood, staring into the woods where Kalen once stood.

“Taako?”

“Merle. Check to make sure it’s done … We’ll … We’ll take him to Raven’s Roost. Let them do what they want with him. I don’t think Magnus would be there today … And if he is …”

Merle nodded and walked into the bushes. Angus looked up at Taako, for the first time truly afraid of the elf. Taako’s fists clenched and then relaxed.

“Sorry about that Ango,” he began. “Magnus had told us in Wonderland that if we were to ever see this man, we needed to kill him on sight. I didn’t know why at first but … When I found out what had happened to him, I … I just saw red, Ango. I couldn’t let this man live. And maybe death was too good for him but … He hurt my friend, Ango. No one hurts my friends.”

Angus wanted to say something, but he couldn’t form the words. He simply watched as Merle emerge from the bushes dragging the smoking corpse of the former governor.

“Next time there’s a revenge quest, you aren’t coming,” Merle grumbled.

“Anyone else who has hurt anyone I care about is already dead … unless … Ango, how did your parents-”

“Plague, sir,” the boy lied.

“Ah. Damn.”

The three stood in silence for a moment before Taako hoisted Kalen’s body over his shoulder and began walking down the road. Merle shrugged and followed behind. Angus ran to catch up with Taako and reached up, grabbing his free, dangling hand.

He was amazed when Taako did not pull away.

~

Reaping was hard work when he was alone, but Barry had known that it was best that he be the only one to go on this particular mission. It was hard taking Lup on missions where they had to reap Sun Elves, and she had needed a break anyway.

He opened the door to their home and was greeted by two smells. One, fresh baking bread and the other an acrid, burning smell.

Something about it curdled his stomach.

“Lup?” Barry called out.

“In the kitchen, dear!” Her sing-songy voice called.

Barry smiled and hung his cloak before walking into the kitchen. There he saw her, standing over the kitchen sink, scrubbing something he couldn’t see. She was absolutely glowing.

Barry came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her gently on the neck.

“I missed you,” he whispered.

“I missed you too, Bar-Bear.”

They stood in silence, just enjoying each other’s company before Barry gently squeezed Lup.

“I need to go check on an experiment I was running in the basement. I’ll be right back,” he cooed.

“Ok love,” she smiled, returning to her work.

She hummed a song she remembered from childhood. It was a song their aunt used to sing as she taught Taako and Lup how to cook, the words nearly gone from her memory.

“Uh … Lup?” Barry’s voice asked from the doorway to the basement.

“Yes dear?”

“There’s a seared Wood Elf in our basement.”

“Oh yes.”

“Um … Is there a reason?”

“He had it coming to him,” Lup smiled.

“He … What?”

“He fucked with Taako. Now he knows not to.”

“Does Taako know? Who was that?”

“Well, he will … eventually. I just need to find a way to let him know … do you think Kravitz will want to take this one? Maybe make it a date?”

Barry stood, stunned. Lup had just tortured a Wood Elf and was conversing as if she was planning Sunday dinner.

“Lup … Who was that?”

“Sazed, dear. He ruined Taako’s life and I wasn’t here to stop it. So .. I had to make up for lost time.”

“Lup …”

“I mean, I know he wouldn’t have recognized me but if I hadn’t been in that umbrella I could have at least … I dunno … I could have scared Sazed to literal death or something … “

Barry placed a hand on Lup’s shoulder.

“I could have even stopped it … I could have warned Taako that Sazed was going to sabotage the food,” Lup continued, her voice cracking. “I could have been there for him so he didn’t feel he had to be so closed off … So that he didn’t feel alone.”

Barry pulled Lup close and hugged her as the elf began to weep into his shoulder. Barry helped her to the floor and the pair sat at the top of the stairs, holding each other close.

“Is this what the nightmares have been about?”

“Not just this … I … I shouldn’t have left, Barry. I shouldn’t have tried to find the gauntlet on my own. I should have stayed … Then at least we would have all been together.”

Barry kissed the top of her head and rocked her. They sat mostly in silence, the only sound being Lup’s slowly softening sobs.

He would deal with Sazed in the morning, but for now, this was something he could actually help with.


End file.
